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"How is it possible for someone to look so cute while sleeping?" I mumbled to myself.
My Husband, aka my Roommate, was sleeping soundly with his body crammed into the seat of his private jet on which we were currently traveling. He was covered in a plush blanket, with only his face visible, looking all too handsome even when tired.
Momo lying on his chest, deep in slumber was what made the visual even cuter.
Ughh.
The initial weeks of December passed like a breeze, with Aryan being away from home for his business trips and me being busy with the social media campaign for his company. In the blink of eye, it was Christmas week and we were heading to our hometown, Sonagarh for Aryan's cousin's wedding.
It was a small town in the out-areas of the city of Udaipur. Both of us had grown up there and the bond of people in our little home-town was strong. It was a tight-knit community, unlike the city of Mumbai where I didn't even know my neighbors. In Sonagarh, these bonds were not just connections; they were the essence of a life lived in harmony, where neighbors become friends, and friends become family. I loved it there.
But it was also like a giant gossip mafia. The gossip spread faster than fire there. This meant everybody knew about everybody's business, and nobody was a stranger.
Just small-town things, I guess.
Aryan's mom and dad had moved away from the town when he was little but his immediate family and my whole family still stayed there.
Just as I was admiring that chiseled jaw and imagining running my fingers through those soft curls, I saw him stirring in his place. Immediately averting my gaze, from him to the book in front of me, I pretended to focus on the text in front of my eyes, bringing the book closer to my face.
Discreetly, when I peeked at him, from behind my book, I saw a smirk covering that stupid handsome face when he opened one eye and his smirk broadened, catching me looking at him.
I instantly glanced away.
"Did I just hear someone calling me cute?" He chirped in a loud sing-song voice.
Busted!
"Ugh guys, stop being so sickly in love. I need to sleep. Stop making me feel so single. Go, take your romance somewhere else."
That was Mini, who was accompanying us on the trip because if the workaholic inside the Aryan didn't work for even a day, he wouldn't be able to survive.
"Did you postpone the next week's Delhi meeting with Mr. Khanna?" Aryan said in a hot-stoic voice, giving her a bossy side-eye.
Mini woke up with a jolt, scrambling around to find her laptop. "Oh, crap! I forgot! Let me just send his assistant an email right now."
Aryan shook his head in disapproval. "Also, retrieve the spreadsheets for the next meeting with Anurag and send them to me."
She gave him a quick nod, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes.
"You overwork her too much," I stated, staring at him.
Mini was sitting on the other side of the aisle and Aryan slid up the partition to block our seats from hers.
He leaned closer to me, whispering, "I haven't told her yet, but I will be bringing another subordinate assistant to divide the workload in a couple of days."
"That's nice. She deserves to rest for a bit without being at your beck and call every moment." I nodded.
He gave me a lopsided smile, saying, "Glad that you approve of my decisions, my dearest wife. Now...what was I hearing about you calling me something along the lines of cute?"
"Who? Me?" I asked, blinking my eyes innocently at him.
"Yes, yes. You. What was it?" He pretended to think before saying, "Yes! How can someone look so cute while sleeping, huh?"
"Nah. That wasn't for you. It was for Momo." I picked the sleeping cat off his chest before cuddling him.
He was my buddy now. No feeling afraid anymore. Me was strong.
Momo woke up slowly from his sleep and started snuggling me by trying to reach his arms around my neck, which I of course welcomed. Cuddling with him felt like embracing a small soft toy. He was the most lovable cat ever. I mushed my cheek with him, rubbing his belly as he purred.
When he nipped on my chin, I laughed, coddling his face and saying, "You love me, huh? I love you too, buddy."
He gave a small meow in response.
"You love me even more than your dad? Is that what it is?" I asked, eyeing the man sitting beside me playfully.
This time Momo let out an even more enthusiastic meow.
Aryan looked genuinely offended as he bellowed, looking at his cat, "Just a few weeks I am gone, and you have changed parties?"
"Why, are you feeling jealous?"
Aryan tried to remove Momo from my embrace but the cat wasn't having it. He stuck to me like a chewing gum. I chuckled, and asked, "You only want to be with me?"
After playing with Momo for a few moments, I realized something as I gasped.
"Oh god, I just realized something..."
Aryan raised his eyebrows at me. I asked, "Am I transforming into one of those people who talk to their pets in that annoying baby voice as if the pets can completely understand the human language?"
This time it was Aryan who laughed, "You are wayyyy past the transformation stage."
Momo reached beside my thigh, where I had tucked my book. He was definitely aiming to nibble at the book pages. "Badboy." I straightened him again, giving him a strict eye.
I swear I could see(and hear) Momo's pout, every time I scolded him.
Maybe I was going crazy.
"Aww, my baby. I didn't want you to feel sad. You want treats?" I was making him the most spoilt cat in the world but for some reason, I couldn't see that sad face. I opened my purse and pulled out a packet full of cat goodies. He started jumping on my lap, reaching out.
I dangled the package in front of him before opening it and feeding him. "See what I bought for you."
He munched excitedly on the treats out of the palm of my hand when I heard Aryan murmur, "I think I have lost my cat for life now."
"You are too dramatic."
He exclaimed, flaring his hands, "But this is cheating! We are not on a level playing field here! You bought treats for him. He will never choose me over the treats."
"It's called being prepared. I know what he likes but you don't." Momo meowed again as if agreeing with me.
Finishing all the treats, Momo yawned, nuzzling his face into my neck. And within seconds, he went to his dream world of sleep.
"Who would have thought that the person who was screaming at him just weeks ago because she didn't want to keep him at home, he would love her more than me? Traitor," Aryan grumbled.
"It's because I am more lovable than you."
I trailed my fingers through Momo's soft fur as he lay on my lap and kissed his forehead, leaning down.
Aryan didn't reply, but feeling his gaze on me, I looked up at him. He had a dazed expression covering his face, with his eyes holding a strange sort of tenderness. It was as though a spark had kindled in the air between us.
Maybe it was just because of the small expanse of the place, given the lifted partition.
I raised my eyebrows at him and that seemed to break the spell as he glanced away, shaking his head.
"I need to catch up on my sleep," He murmured.
I shrugged, going back to caressing Momo.
He struggled to find a comfortable position to nap and kept tossing and turning.
I draped my arm around the back of his seat and made him lay his head on my shoulder. With one hand, I stroked his hair in a soothing movement, and with the other, I took hold of his hand and intertwined our fingers together.
I plucked the book beside my thigh and placed it inside the holder in front of me. Seeing the movement, Aryan said, "Tell me about this book you are reading currently."
"It's a highschool romance titled, To all the boys. It's part of a series," I said, reveling the feel of his hair through my fingers.
"Oh! I know this one. It was adapted into a movie, right?"
I hummed. He stated, casually, "I met the lead of that movie in some international award show, a few years ago. What was his name..."
"Noah?"
Aryan exclaimed, "Yes, that's the one! Noah Centipede."
I tsked at the deliberate insult. "That would be Noah Centineo. Not Centipede. And he is the finest species of man to ever walk on this earth. So, you better remember his name from now on."
"Finest species of man, you say?"
"Uh-huh."
"So, is he the one whose voice you find orgasm-worthy good?" He teased.
"That's-"
"Or is he the one whose abs you begged to touch?"
"Shut-"
"Or is he the one who you wanted to hug when you were drunk?"
He was never going to let me live that one down.
I pulled on his hair purposely, fuming in rage. He hissed in pain, "I was just stating the facts. You don't have to be so violent, always."
I peeked at him, innocently, removing my fingers from his hair. "I didn't do anything."
He dragged them inside again, gesturing me to continue the massage. "Keep doing what you were doing earlier. And don't pull on my hair, just now. You can do it later though." He winked with his chin settled on my shoulder.
"Shut up."
He leaned his head on my shoulder, And within minutes we were both dozing, entangled in each other's embrace.
***
The hostess came to wake us up when we were minutes away from landing at the Udaipur airport. Barely into consciousness, I looked around me to find my cat in my lap and a heavy arm draped around my waist.
Aryan's nose was nuzzling into my neck, with his hand resting on my thigh, where the pajama shorts had ridden up to reveal more skin than I was comfortable with.
His face nestled closer into the crook of my shoulder, as he stirred, waking up.
A raspy, sleepy voice filled my ears, when he whispered, "Is this what waking up in heaven feels like?"
"You better remove your hand from my thigh. I will show you what actual hell feels like otherwise."
"Really? I think I quite like it where it is right now."
Pressing my lips together to suppress the smile that was threatening to rise, I slapped his hand away. The noise woke Momo too, as he yowled, burying himself into my lap.
I wondered how it took only a few weeks to form such a strong bond between this cat and me. Maybe because he was as lazy as me.
Aryan stretched his body in the seat, with his arm not-so-accidentally brushing across my shoulders. The fine scent of his cologne filled my senses and I inhaled as discreetly as I could have.
"It's vacation time, baby. Let's goooo!" He cheered, jumping on his feet when the plane landed.
"You might want to put your shoes on first," I remarked, bending down to tie the laces of my sneakers.
"Why is it so difficult for you to be happy in my happiness? So boring," He sulked, sprawling on the seat.
***
Being at my parents' house after almost a year, I almost teared up at the realization of how much I missed being here. This felt like home.
"Are you crying?"
"Shut up."
Aryan, who was sitting beside me on the dining chair, pulled me into a tight side hug as I buried my nose into his shoulder, sniffling.
As I started to pull away, I saw Mini rolling her eyes, probably the corny display of affection.
My parents were out, most definitely shopping for my mom for the upcoming wedding season. Dad had informed me that they would be back in a few minutes. I couldn't wait to see them.
A voice echoed through the almost empty hall, and I felt someone's hand wrapping around my neck. "Maharani sahiba finally padhaar hi gai."
(The queen has finally arrived.)
That would be my younger brother, Vivaan.
And make no mistake, he didn't call me a Maharani because of how much he loved me, it was a sarcastic term of insult that was imposed on me because of how dictator-y I was.
He plucked the hair tie off my hair, ruffling my perfectly made hair, on which I had spent a total of three minutes of sheer hard work.
I am going to kill someone today. Someone whose name starts with a V.
I stood up, smiling.
Then I hugged him and messed up his gelled hair and stepped on his foot. And punched him in the gut. Accidentally.
All Accidentally. I promise.
He ducked me under his arm in a headlock, taking advantage of his height, towering over me.
I missed the days when he was a cute little child, with chubby cheeks and always needed my help for reaching the kitchen countertop.
Parting the coat of his business suit to a side, I reached for the most ticklish spot on the side of his stomach. It had taken me years' worth of research to find that weak spot during our WWE fights.
I was a firm believer of, Mental strength over Physical strength in sibling combats.
He immediately left me as soon as my fingers touched his stomach. But just in spite, he ruffled my hair once more before yanking me into a big bear hug.
"I missed you," I said, encircling my arms, tightly around him.
"Haan, Haan, I missed you too, Maharani. Vaise Ye bol kr aehsaan kr rha h hu tere upar. Jayda sar pr mat chad jaana ab."
(Yes, yes. I missed you too, Queen. And I am doing a favor to you by saying this. Don't dance on my head after this.)
I rolled my eyes, pulling his cheeks, knowing how much it irritated him. "Okay, my cutie little princess."
And he hated it when I called him a princess. But that's what he was. A cute little spoilt princess who whined a lot. Like every younger sibling. Ofcourse.
Then he did that weird side-bro hug thing with Aryan. But when his gaze landed on our guest, a deep pink blush coated his cheeks and he shuffled from one foot to the other. Awww.
"Vivaan, this is Meenakshi, Aryan's assistant, and my friend."
"Hey!" Was that mousy voice belonging to my ever-bold friend?
She smiled at him, shaking his hand. With a full toothy smile.
Interesting.
Everybody settled on the table. The dinner was served after my parents came home. My mom almost got teary-eyed seeing me and my dad almost crushed me into a hug.
Mid-dinner I got a text from Mini.
Mini: Your brother is a smoking hot piece of chocolate. Set me up with him.
My nose scrunched at the gross description, as I typed.
Ria: That's my brother we're talking about. You're disgusting.
Before she could answer, my mom's voice reverberated through the table.
"So, Meenakshi Beta, You are Aryan's assistant, right?"
"Ji, Aunty. "
(Yes)
"Mummy Papa kaha rhete h aapke?"
(Where do your parents live?)
Oh god. Now I could decipher what was happening here. Match-making mumma was in action.
"They live in Mumbai as well. Dad's a cardiologist and mom's a high school teacher," Mini replied.
I could practically see all the checklist boxes ticking off in my mom's mind.
Well-settled girl. Check.
Good family. Check.
Beautiful. Check.
Sanskari. Check.
She did touch my parents' feet when I introduced them to her, after all.
"Toh shaadi vagehra ka kuch plan h? Ya abhi time h?"
(What about marriage? Have you given it a thought or you want to wait for a little more?)
My mom said the question, playfully laughing, as if she was joking but I could very well see the seriousness in her eyes.
"Aunty ji abhi toh fhilhal kuch time h, pr agar apki nazar me koi ho toh zarur batayega. My parents would be delighted to meet."
(For now, there is still some time, but if you have someone in mind then please do tell.)
Mini's gaze kept flickering between my mom and Vivaan, not being subtle at all.
My mom chuckled, adding slyly, "Hum bhi apne Vivaan ke liye dhund hi rhe h rishta vaise."
(We too are searching for a suitable girl for our Vivaan.)
My brother blushed fifty shades of red, not meeting anyone's gaze.
I had never seen him being so shy. It was almost cute.
Yup. We were in for an eventful vacation ahead.
***
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